Once upon a time, not too long ago, a telenovela’s stars – any telenovela in fact – would shine bright… like a diamond almost. Okay, well not that bright. But it did seem not too long ago that when an actress or an actor would take on a leading role in a brand new Spanish-language soap opera it was an event or an occasion to take note of.
People literally used to stop everything and run inside just to catch the latest episodes of their favorite telenovelas. I know because that’s what we did back in the day. At the Bali Hai apartments. Where every time it hit 6p.m. on any given weekday night, kids, adults and grandparents all would scurry inside and not be seen again until right after the 9 o’clock hour. That’s when all the novelas were over.
These days though, I can’t think of one single protagonist who has managed to capture the imagination and wonder of dozens of thousands of us the way Veronica Castro, Thalia, Edith Gonzalez, Angelica Rivera, or even Lucero used to do en algún tiempo, uff ni hace tanto. In a way it’s like telenovelas were glamorous back then and they are not anymore. Could it be that these leading ladies of yesteryear took the oomph out of the industry all together with them when they each read their respective last lines?
Digo, Vero Castro overdid the plastic surgery and went through a series of painful variety shows before walking away from television all together; Thalia traded in her scripts for dollar bills and luxury; Angelica Rivera is now running a country as La Gaviota; I’m not sure about Edith Gonzalez, but she’s not leading in any novelas; and poor Lucero, pues she can only be in so many novelas at a time.
Now, we get singers turned into actors, Miss Universe winners touting their first acting roles ever, former underwear models turned galanes, and my personal favorite of all (being sarcastic of course), fabricated celebs produced by major networks to give themselves added control and influence over what we watch and why. Yes, I’m talking about that actress!
Nomás falta que al William Levy le ensarten una Miss. Oh wait, they did. You just wait.
So forgive me if I’m being too quick to judge, but I do believe a México le están quedando cada vez menos grandes actores de televisión, o por lo menos de telenovela
In my humble opinion that is to say.
